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Paris agreement is foundation for green and resilient future

The global agreement made at the UN Climate Change Conference
in December mandates all governments to take action on climate
change. But as citizens we need to keep up the pressure on our national governments to implement the agreement and to deliver climate justice for poor and vulnerable people.

The international climate talks in Paris, held in December 2015, had the goal of bringing together world leaders to agree a global target for the earth’s warming. The talks were challenging - it’s rumoured that the Pope even had to call the President of Nicaragua and make a personal plea to break the final deadlock in negotiations!

Like any international compromise, the treaty is not perfect. The agreement that was finally reached on limiting carbon emissions is unlikely to keep climate change below safe levels of two degrees of warming. But for the first time, we did see a real global consensus on tackling the problem of climate change.

The Paris climate talks were a real step forward in terms of countries working together. We now need to keep the pressure up on governments and make sure that this momentum continues in the wake of the talks.

Already, people around the world are seeing the devastating effects of climate change. As crops fail, prices of everyday staples like rice or flour go up, and it’s always the most vulnerable who are the first to go hungry. Disasters like typhoons and cyclones are on the rise, causing widespread devastation and creating effects that can take years to recover from.

It’s the world’s poorest people who are bearing the brunt of our changing weather. For the sake of vulnerable communities around the world, we must keep up the pressure for urgent climate action.

THANK YOU FOR TAKING ACTION!

As world leaders met in Paris to set global warming targets, ordinary citizens and community groups marched to demand real action.

In Australia, Act for Peace supporters joined more than 10 million people in over 50 cities around the world to call for a strong solution that puts the interests of the world’s poorest people at its heart.

The Paris agreement put in place a historic commitment signed by all the world’s major powers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Thanks to people like you, Climate Action Marches around the world encouraged global leaders to agree on a global target for the earth’s warming. Although the treaty agreed upon in Paris is not perfect, many world leaders pushed even harder for climate action after hearing a unified voice from people like you demanding change.

You are also part of the ACT Alliance, a global network of compassionate Christians standing up for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. The ACT Alliance will continue to lobby for strong action on climate change, calling on all national governments to close the remaining loopholes in the agreement and accelerate the implementation of the accord.

“We are all part of Creation, and while we are thankful for this, we also need to acknowledge our responsibility to take care of the earth,” said ACT Alliance global climate ambassador Archbishop Thabo Makgabo, from South Africa. “This responsibility was given to us by God, and thus we, as faith groups around the world need to lead the way”.

How you're helping!

As well as advocating for governments to take action, through Act for Peace you are working with communities affected by climate change on the ground around the world.

Your gifts meant people who had lost everything received hygiene and water purification kits to keep them safe from disease, as well as seeds to help them get back on their feet once the recent cyclone in Vaunatu had passed.

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Act for Peace is a member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) and a signatory to the ACFID Code of Conduct and Fundraising Charter, which commits international aid and development organisations to good standards of governance, transparency, accountability and effectiveness.

Act for Peace is a member of the ACT Alliance, a global network of grass-roots aid organisations working together in over 140 countries. Together we mobilise about $1.5 billion each year to create positive and sustainable change in the lives of poor and marginalised people regardless of their religion, politics, gender, sexual orientation, race or nationality in keeping with the highest international codes and standards.

The Church Agencies Network (CAN) is a group of eleven Australian church-based aid and development agencies. The network is an opportunity to work together and to share experiences and practice, recognising that together we can achieve much more.

Act for Peace gratefully acknowledges the support of the Australian Government.